Stolen handgun recovered in Niagara County meth bust

NEWFANE – The owner of a missing handgun identified the firearm Tuesday as the gun recovered in a drug raid on Hope Lane last week.

The 49-year-old Lockport-Olcott Road man told Niagara County sheriff’s deputies his pistol, as well as a Remington shotgun and a PSE bow had been missing from his home for four months. He contacted the Sheriff’s Office when he learned the gun was recovered in raid near his home.

The Niagara County Drug Task Force and state police investigators raided Hope Lane home Friday and discovered methamphetamine and a .22-caliber handgun. Sean Smith, 37, and James O. White, 21, were charged with criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance. The investigation against them is continuing.